


Seven Months Later

by TryingNormal42



Series: Naturali Extras [7]
Category: Original Work, The Naturali Compendium
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 19:11:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9339023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TryingNormal42/pseuds/TryingNormal42
Summary: A companion piece to The Phone Call, in which Seth gets the shock of his life.





	

Seth was having a pretty good morning until he got that text. The one that changed everything.

**8:30**  
            _Matt is in my Diner. Apparently he’s been here all night._

So the minute the bell rang for lunch he shot off a text to his girlfriend Sara and ran all the way to the Mama’s. Breathing heavily, he pushed through the doors and walked right up to Della at the counter.

“Where is he?” he asked.

Della nodded her chin over at a booth in the corner, where Seth had to do a double take at the guy sitting there surrounded by a laptop, several notebooks and flashcards. He had reddish brown hair, scruff on his cheeks, and black nerdy glasses.

“What? No,” Seth told her. “That’s not him. That doesn’t even _look_ like him.”

“Oh, it’s him alright. I–”

“Matty!”

Seth spun around, his jaw popping open when a guy with a shock of orange hair and bright blue eyes came through the door, a group of kids following behind him. The youngest, a dark-skinned little girl with curly black hair about the age of four, went rushing past the tables toward the guy with the laptop.

“Daddy!” she cried, squealing when he lifted her up and set him down on his lap.

Surprisingly, Matt moved his hands as he spoke. “Hey, baby girl, how ya doin’? Get the house all fixed up?”

“Papa and I had a tea party,” the little girl grinned, signing perfectly back at him.

“I thought you were supposed to be unpacking the house, Scott,” Matt asked the redhead as he approached, signing the words.

“It was a really great tea party,” Scott signed with a shrug, plopping down in the booth beside him. As the oldest and the twins squeezed in on the other side of the table, the couple kissed and the thirteen-year-old made a face at them.

“Gross. Can you guys not?”

“You’ll find yourself a lovely _coeunt_ someday, Tash, and then you won’t think kissing is so gross,” Matt said with a laugh.

“I’m thirteen and I haven’t even transitioned yet, why would I want to find my _coeunt_?”

Scott sighed. “Tash, you’re scheduled for next month so don’t worry, okay?”

“I just … I hate being a friggin’ girl, alright? It’s not who I am. I’m not Tasha, I’m Tash.”

“Yes, honey, we know. And once your transition is done, we’ll go right down to city hall to get your birth certificate formally changed so you can be the boy you were always meant to be.”

“I think Tash would be a very pretty boy,” one of the blonde twins said, a girl.

“I think you mean handsome, Jordan,” Matt told her with a laugh.

“Right. Handsome. That’s what I meant.”

“I’m hungry, Dad,” the girl’s twin brother whined. “Can we get something to eat?”

“Sure, Jamie.” Matt grabbed a menu from off the windowsill and passed it over to him. “Everyone pick something you want and then we’ll order some lunch.”

“Awesome,” Tash breathed. “All I’ve had today is those weird-tasting Easy-Bake Oven cookies Maybelle made at her tea party.”

“Actually, why don’t you guys head over to that big booth over there while I help Matt get his stuff all packed up?” Scott said, helping Maybelle out of the booth.

As the kids wandered past him toward a bigger booth, Seth’s heart began to pound in his chest. This guy couldn’t possibly be Matt, could he? And when did Matt even get kids? Or a house?

“So, how much studying did you get done while I babysat the kits?” he heard the redhead ask.

“My Psych class is really giving me trouble. I’m just glad I’ll be able to start going to the College Park in the fall. I can’t do this all online anymore.”

“Hey,” Scott cooed. “I’m sure Rex would be really proud that you followed in his footsteps. Heck, even _I’m_ proud of you.”

Matt chuckled. “Oh, well, that makes me feel so much better, thank you.”

Scott grabbed Matt’s laptop and one of his textbooks. “That’s what I’m here for, kid.”

Matt wrinkled his nose. “Don’t call me kid, it’s weird now.”

“Oh, boo hoo, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings princess.”

“Don’t quote Supernatural at me.”

“Why not? It’s a good show. Plus Dean is really hot.”

“Not hotter than me I hope,” Matt said with a grin.

“Oh, never. Dean Winchester can _never_ be hotter than my husband.”

“Love you too.”

“Don’t you know it.”

They were just about to pass him when Seth suddenly grabbed Matt’s arm without thinking, the Lupus letting out a cry of alarm at the sudden contact. Then Scott was suddenly on him, twisting Seth’s arm around and slamming him down onto the counter. The entire diner went silent.

“Who are you and why are you touching my husband?” he snarled.

“Scott, let him go!” Matt cried, trying to pull his _coeunt_ off Seth. “Scott!”

“But he tried to–”

“He’s my best friend,” Matt told him, and Scott instantly released him.

“Wait, _this_ is Seth?”

“Yeah,” the Alpha grimaced, rubbing his arm as he stared at Matt. “Christ, Matt, I thought you were dead.”

“Well I’m not,” he chuckled awkwardly. “It’s me, in the flesh.”

“You got married?”

Matt’s face went bright red. “Oh, um yeah.” He held out his hand, where a very familiar ring glinted in the light on Matt’s finger.

“That’s the ring Rex was gonna–”

“Yeah,” Matt told him softly. “Scott surprised me with it. I used to wear it around my neck but then one day I couldn’t find it and freaked out. Turns out Scott was getting it resized so that he could propose to me with it at dinner. I was a nervous wreck the entire time.”

“But he said yes,” Scott said, hooking an arm around his husband’s neck and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I knew Rex wouldn’t mind anyway. It needed to be on _someone’s_ hand and this dork certainly wasn’t going to propose to _me_ with it.”

“Have you … Have you been to see your dad yet?” Seth asked.

“Not yet. I wanted to get everyone settled before I …”

“We wanted to wait until we unpacked the house and got the kits enrolled in school before surprising Hart with our presence,” Scott added.

“He’s gonna be really happy to see you, man. I didn’t even recognize you at first.”

“Della didn’t either for a while.”

“Can I ask what’s up with the glasses?”

Matt laughed. “Oh, yeah, Scott likes it when I wear them and–”

Seth held up a hand. “Say no more, dude, keep your crazy fetishes to yourself.”

“It’s not a fetish, per say,” Scott said indignantly. “I just think he looks really sexy with them on. He looks like the sexy doctor he’s working so hard to become.”

Seth’s eyes widened. “You–You’re gonna be a doctor?”

“Yeah …” Matt said, face flushing even redder. “I want to pick up where Rex left off, ya know? Helping kids like my own.”

“That’s really great, man, he’d be so proud of you.”

“Yeah, Scott tells me that all the time.”

“Well, he would be,” the redhead said.

* * *

“Dad?”

Hart Connors spun around automatically, eyes widening at a voice he hadn’t heard in months.

“Matthew?” the Lupus breathed. “Wha–”

“Daddy!”

Hart was shocked when a dark-skinned little girl ran right up to his son and clutched his legs, but his mouth dropped open when the tall redheaded male that was following her came up and kissed a startled Matt on the lips.

“Hey, babe, what’s wrong? What’re you–” The redhead turned and froze at the sight of Hart staring at them both. His face flushed red. “Oh. Is that–Is that your dad?”

Matt nodded. “Scott, this is my father, Hart Connors. Dad, this is my husband, Scott Crandall.”

Hart dropped the hand he’d outstretched toward Scott. “Wait, _husband_? You mean you’re–”

“Yeah,” Matt said softly, holding out his hand with the ring on it and Hart grasped his son’s hand.

“Papa,” a small voice said, and everyone turned to look at the little girl still clutching Matt’s legs. “Who’s the strange man holding Daddy’s hand? I thought only you were allowed to do that.”

“Shh,” Scott told her as he scooped her up into his arms. “Not right now, Mabel. Daddy and I will explain later, okay? Why don’t we go play on that playground over there will we wait for him? Sound good?”

She nodded. “Yeah!”

Hart watched in shock as Scott walked away with the girl in his arms, then turned to look at his son. “You have a daughter.”

“Adopted,” Matt said, voice full of emotion. “But yeah, I … I-I do.”

Hart pulled his son in for a hug, tears in his eyes. “Oh God, I thought I’d never see you again. Let alone with a family of your own. When you ran off back in December, without any explanation, I thought–”

“I know,” Matt murmured. “But it wasn’t because of what happened with Rex. Scott got trapped in a Walmart that a group of Rebels attacked and he got caught in an explosion they caused. The hospital he was taken to called and told me to come right away.”

“Then why didn’t you call, Matt?” Hart asked. “I was worried sick about you.”

Matt glanced over at his husband. “I … I had to be there for him, Dad. He lost his hearing in the explosion and we both had to learn to deal with what happened. I just got so wrapped up in everything that was going on that, for a while, I couldn’t focus on anything but him. I’m really sorry.”

“You should have at least told me that you were alright, wherever you were.”

“I know, Dad, I’m really sorry. But I’m here now, okay? And I want you to meet my family.”

“I want to meet them, too. Scott seems like such a nice guy and Maybelle is just adorable.”

“Wait till you meet the others,” Matt laughed. “You won’t be so eager then.”

Hart’s eyes widened. “The others?”

“Yeah. We’re fostering three other kids right now. Tasha– _Tash_ is thirteen and she’s transitioning from female-to-male next month, and there’s the twins–”

“Twins?”

“Yeah, they’re both nine. Jordan, a girl, and Jamie, a boy.”

“Wow. You’ve got a full house.”

“You should come over tonight,” Matt suggested. “Scott’s making spaghetti for dinner.”

“He can cook?”

“Yes, Dad, he can cook.”

“Good. Then I’ll be over tonight at seven.”

* * *

The lights flashed as Matt heard the doorbell ring and Scott shouted from the kitchen, “Doorbell!”

The Lupus chuckled, catching his husband’s attention to sign: _Got it_. He made his way through the boxes in the hallway and into the foyer to open the door, surprised to see not only his father, but Rex’s mother Marietta and little sister, Scarlett, standing in the doorway.

“Matty!” Scarlett exclaimed happily, rushing forward to hug him.

“Lettie?” he breathed, eyes wide. “What’re you–What’re you doing here?”

“I wanted to meet my new nephews and and nieces,” the girl said, and Matt’s head spun.

“You mean you–” He glanced up at his father. “You got married?”

“Not yet,” Hart said with a grin, wrapping arm around Marietta’s waist. “Wedding’s in the summer.”

“Jeez, what happened while I was gone?”

“Dinner’s ready!” Scott’s voice shouted, and Matt pulled his phone from his pocket to send a text. A second later Scott’s head popped into the hallway and he waved, grinning broadly. “Hi! I hope everyone likes lasagna!”

“Sounds great,” Hart said.

“Then what’re you waitin’ for? Come on in! Tell my jerk of a husband to let you inside.”

Matt’s face flushed red and he quickly motioned for his father, Marietta, and Lettie to come in. “Sorry for the mess,” he mumbled. “We’re still working on unpacking everything.”

“Babe, can you call the kits down and tell them it’s time for dinner, please?” Scott said. Matt pulled out his phone again to text something. “Thank you!”

Hart’s brows furrowed as Matt’s attention returned to his phone. “What’s with all the texting?”

“Oh, it’s how I communicate with Scott,” he said absently, and the Lupus smiled when Scott’s laughter echoed out into the hall.

“Nice, one, babe!”

Matt shot off another text before moving over to the stairs and shouting, “Guys, it’s time for dinner!”

Thumping footsteps and shouting came from upstairs, and suddenly three children came rushing down the steps.

“Quit pushing me, twerps!” a red-haired girl snapped, pushing two blonde twins, a boy and girl, out of the way as she came down the stairs.

“Wait, where’s Mabel?” Matt asked, his eyes wide.

The twins shrugged their shoulders.

“We were playing video games,” the blonde girl said.

“I dunno,” the redhead said, adjusting the fedora on her head.

Matt shot up the stairs. “Belley!” he shouted, bursting through her bedroom door. “Belley?”

“Son, what can I do to help?” Hart stood in Mabel’s doorway, worry etched across his face.

“Get Scott. Have Tash tell him Mabel is missing.”

“I can’t just tell ‘im myself?”

“No, Dad, you can’t, Scott’s deaf, he wouldn’t be able to hear you.”

“He’s–”

“Just go get him. Please,” Matt said, ducking down to look under Mabel’s bed as he heard his father’s footsteps departing. “Belley? Sweetheart, where are you?”

Minutes later he and Scott are searching the upstairs when, by absolute chance, his husband happens to open Mabel’s laundry hamper. The Vulpes laughs loudly, prompting Matt to join him, and he’s greeted by the sight of his husband gently lifting the small girl from the hamper.

The little girl blinks sleepily, thumb resting on her bottom lip as she yawns. “Daddy?”

“Belley!” Matt breathes, kissing her forehead. “I was so worried. What on earth were you doing in your hamper?”

“Playing hide-and-seek,” she mumbles. “But no one found me and I got sleepy.” She yawns again. “Did I miss dinner?”

Scott chuckles. “No, honey, you didn’t miss dinner.”


End file.
